Campus to Career ’22: Week One Recap
From an engineer-turned-real-estate rockstar to a barrier-breaking mayor of a major Florida city, Campus to Career’s first week was packed with compelling insights from Stetson Law alumni. The sessions showcased how these high-profile grads navigated their early careers after graduation – and demonstrated that professional pathways don’t always go in a straight line.
“You don’t really choose…your profession. Sometimes it chooses you.”
Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis
Here are some highlights from the week’s keynote events.
Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis on Service & Community Involvement
Well before fighting homophobia in Broward County in the nineties or being elected Mayor of Fort Lauderdale in 2018, Dean Trantalis was a Boston University student inspired to major in political science by the Vietnam War and Watergate. While he didn’t go to law school right away, advocacy always called to him.
“You don’t really choose…your profession. Sometimes it chooses you,” he said. “And I guess I kind of always knew that I was going to be a lawyer.”
In his Tuesday keynote, the ’79 Stetson Law alumnus talked about fighting for LGBTQ protections in Broward County at a time when even like-minded politicians were afraid to publicly support it – and why, whether you’re advocating in a courtroom or knocking on doors, you need to put the work in.
“The first thing to do when advocating something is to know your subject matter,” he said. “Because if you don’t know your subject matter, people are going to see right through you. Make sure you know your subject matter, and make sure that you own it…And be honest in your advocacy.”
See the full keynote.
Selling Tampa’s Rena Upshaw-Frazier on Career Pathways
While her career path wasn’t one of absolute certainty, Rena Upshaw-Frazier knew one thing.
“I wanted to do something that was going to make an impact,” she said Wednesday afternoon.
She had wanted to go into environmental science, but her father advised her against it because it wouldn’t be lucrative – so she pursued environmental engineering at University of South Florida. The Tampa native was drawn to the legal work she was exposed to – so she applied to Stetson Law and got in.
“I had a lot of people tell me engineers won’t make good lawyers,” she said. “It actually ended up being the opposite.”
She ended up at a large firm, where she fell in love with real estate while helping a colleague with extra work. It felt like a calling – so much so that she eventually got her real estate license and joined Allure, an all-female Tampa brokerage. A producer from the reality show Selling Sunset reached out to Allure about filming a similar reality show in Tampa. Upshaw-Frazier auditioned for a role and got it – but like leaving law, it was a tough decision.
“You’re just really putting yourself out there and you don’t really have a lot of control over the end product,” she said. “You film the scenes, and it gets chopped up how it gets chopped up.”
Ultimately, she “decided to just go for it and see what happened,” and became a key person on Netflix’s Selling Tampa.
If she could say anything to her law-school self, she would tell herself to take it easy.
“I’d say ‘girl, relax,’” Upshaw-Frazier said. “I would enjoy the journey a lot more.”
See the full keynote.
“Team Coy” talks career, love & passing the bar
When moving into private practice after working with the Hillsborough County Public Defender’s office, Stetson Law alumna Theresa Jean-Pierre Coy said she didn’t realize that having your own practice means that you take on all support roles, from IT person to administrative assistant. She realized this when her cell phone rang, and it was an angry judge on the other end asking why she had missed a hearing.
Coy is now Conviction Unit Supervisor with the Hillsborough County State Attorney’s Office.
The former George Edgecomb Bar Association President fielded questions Thursday evening alongside her husband, Hillsborough County State Attorney’s Office Juvenile Division Chief Travis Coy, who is also a Stetson Law alum.
The two met at Stetson Law, and throughout their keynote address joked about what it’s like to have a romantic partner who’s also a colleague.
The Coys stressed relationship-building and hard work as keys to success. For example, when studying for the bar exam, Theresa Jean-Pierre Coy said she treated it like a nine-to-five job. Yet while the work is important, she also thinks it’s important to give oneself some breathing room.
“I would tell myself relax a little,” she said when asked what she would tell her younger self.
You’re going to be okay, in fact, you’re going to do better than you ever imagined.”
Travis Coy urged the students who were participating to enjoy life.
“Being a lawyer does not define who you are. First and foremost, you’re a human being,” he said. “Make sure you embrace life and that you cherish the moment and that you’re living in the moment.”
See the full keynote.
Stetson Law’s Campus to Career event continues through April 14. See the full Campus to Career event program.
Post date: March 25, 2022
Media contact: Kate Bradshaw
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